NEWS UPDATE: April 25th 2014

Starting off the news this past week is the (official) fiftieth anniversary of Disney's It's A Small World attraction which first appeared at the 1964-65 World's Fair on April 22nd. To celebrate, Disney held a celebration across the globe, and this video appeared on Good Morning America. This was posted a week ago, but we forgot to share it earlier. Celebrate fifty years of the happiest cruise that ever sailed with this wonderful video:

Got a good baseball arm? Today might be your lucky day. Disney is offering $1 million dollars to any amateur baseball players who can throw a ball at 100 mph in promotion for their next film, Million Dollar Arm, which hits theaters May 16th 2014. More info is available at http://movies.disney.com/million-dollar-arm/special-event

As of this week, Disney World is adding the option of including one extra FastPass for their new FastPass+ system, now moving the limit from three FastPasses per day up to four, but only if you already used all three FastPasses that you reserved on that day. This is great news for fans of the old system of FastPass, and hopefully Disney World will continue to raise the limit on FastPasses throughout the park. 

"The 7D" is set to premiere on Disney XD on July 7th, Stitch Kingdom Reports. Joining the cast is Whoopi Goldberg ad Jay Leno. "The 7D" is a modern re-design of the classic Seven Dwarfs from the famous Snow White story (character design for the series can be seen below)This quite possibly is a tie-in to the opening of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Disney World is just a few weeks, but we can confirm that the Dwarfs in the attraction look the same as they did in Snow White in 1937. It is unclear why Disney XD chose not to go with the original designs for the series, but the show airs July 7th 2014 on Disney XD. 

Seven Dwarfs Re-designed for 7D series

Speaking of the Seven Dwarfs, the construction walls have come down surrounding the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, speculated to open sometime in the next month. The entrance area in front of the attraction has been revealed, and the good folks over at Inside the Magic got the full scoop. Read the article right here. 

"Feast" an all new short from Disney is set to premiere before Disney's next animated film, Big Hero 6. The short shows one man's love life through the eyes of his dog, and revealed bite-by-bite of the meals they share. The short and the film release in North American theaters November 7th 2014. 

Disney's Hollywood Studios is celebrating 25 years since park opening back in the year of 1989, where it opened under the name of Disney's- MGM Studios. Many other attractions came to open in that time and built up to what it is today. Of course, in true Disney fashion, this calls for a major celebration! On May 1st, here's the things you can see and do if you're in the park: 

• At 10 a.m., Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse will take the stage with Disney’s Hollywood Studios Vice President Dan Cockerell honoring members of the 25-year cast members at a re-dedication ceremony. 

• “Stars of the Studios”, a brand new special motorcade, will make its way down Hollywood Blvd. beginning at 7 p.m. and feature Mickey and Minnie, Captain Jack Sparrow, Darth Vader, Doc McStuffins, Wreck-It Ralph, Venellope, Sofia the First and stars featured throughout the park. 

•  Special merchandise (although it has not been announced what specific merchandise will be for sale.  

• After the motorcade, the front of the park’s Sorcerer Hat Stage will host a special dance party and a fireworks show finishes the day at 9:30 p.m. The pyrotechnics show, which will be high in the sky above the Sorcerer Mickey Hat, will pay tribute to 25 years of show business stories that have been told throughout the park.

 There you have it! Happy Birthday MGM- er, Hollywood Studios! 

Frozen is unstoppable. Every week, Frozen gets higher on the highest grossing film list, and at the moment of this report, it is currently at the sixth highest grossing film mark of all time, tickets prices un-adjusted, recently surpassing films such as Lord of The Rings: Return of the King and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Congratulations to the entire team who worked on Frozen! 

And for the final bit of news this week: Idina Menzel is hosting a live chat on Frozen's Facebook page later today, Friday April 25th 2014. Visit https://www.facebook.com/DisneyFrozen to submit your questions for Idina Menzel to answer. The chat will start at 6 PM EST/ 3 PM PST. 

That's all for now. Have a magical week! 

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com